Ukraine detains 12 former riot police in deaths of protesters

Twelve members of Ukraine's disbanded "Berkut" riot police have been detained on suspicion of shooting civilian participants in Kiev's months long anti-government protests, a spokesman for the general prosecutor said on Thursday.

More than 100 people were killed, most by snipers, on the streets of the capital in the run-up to the ouster of then-president Viktor Yanukovych on Feb 21, with the new government in Ukraine blaming the Berkut police force.

However, the identity of the snipers believed to be responsible for most of the deaths is the subject of bitter disagreement. The interim government says Yanukovych ordered police snipers to be deployed - a charge Yanukovych denied in an interview with The Associated Press.

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